Have you ever gone to your food pantry, opened the door and had moths come out swarming around you? I have and it did not please me one bit.
Upon a closer look I discovered webs, and these little critters on the walls of my pantry. If that wasn’t disturbing enough, I started pulling everything out of my pantry and the moths were populating in my flour, cereals, cake mixes and items of this nature. If you look closely you will see webbing and larvae in your containers.
I would suggest if you find a good deal on flour or cake mixes that you store them in your freezer. I even keep my Panko bread crumbs, nuts and dried fruits in the freezer.
Pantry moths are a common occurrence in many homes. They’re petite, mottled insects with a wingspan of about three-quarters of an inch. The female lays 100-400 eggs and upon hatching, the half-inch long, pale gray larvae hang out in the creases of food packaging. The larvae create webbed tunnel-shaped forts for themselves in your cereal, flour, powdered milk, dry pet food, nuts, dried fruit, biscuits, crackers and especially bird seed.
An untreated infestation of pantry moths produces four to six generations of fresh larvae per year. This will give you many opportunities to explore entomophagous cuisine (the fad of insect-eating). If that prospect leaves your palate dry and taut, here are some steps you can take to rid pantry moths from your cupboards.
- Totally empty out your closet.
- Vacuum all crevices and surfaces to remove eggs, larvae and any spilled contaminated food. Discard the vacuum bag or clean out the canister.
- Wash down your shelves and walls. Be sure to clean every nook and cranny!
- Go through all of your boxes/packages of food. Don’t take any chances if you suspect that there is a moth populating in the food…THROW IT OUT. It is important to get all of the infested items removed and in the trash. If you don’t all of your hard work will be for nothing.
- Store bird seed or dry pet food in secure containers in your garage.
Now you are ready to put everything back! I took following extra steps in protecting my food:
Wipe all of the cans, bottles and boxes down.
- Put plastic wrap over the tops of the seasoning/spice jars and screwing the caps down over the plastic.
- In case of cereals or opened boxes containing grains, flours, cookies or crackers I made sure the inside bags were securely closed and put these boxes inside of Ziploc bags. (After checking for larvae, of course)
- I emptied my bags of flour into big glass jars and put plastic under the lids.
My pantry looks like Fort Knox for food! I would rather take precautions than have to throw food away.
I came across a great remedy to keep my food closet clear of these intruders. It was suggested to wash everything down once a month or so with essential oils. Eucalyptus was recommended or if that was not available, essential oil of lavender. I tried putting 10 to 15 drops of lavender oil on a cotton balls and put these in the corners of my pantry closet on various shelves. I was elated upon checking to find the moths were gone. An added delight was the smell of lavender in my closet!!
These moths are probably coming home with you in your bags of flour, rice, grains or boxes of cereal or crackers. I’ve read several people suggesting you put these items in the freezer for a few days when you first come home to kill the larvae. If you aren’t going to use your flour over a short period of time, you might want to consider storing it in the freezer.
There is nothing worse then getting ready to bake and finding your flour infested with larvae. I hope you find this information useful.
With the cost of living increasing nowadays, even on food, it is worth taking these precautions to keep your food free of these critters.
In closing, if you would like to find other ways of saving on your expenses, like gasoline, dental, prescriptions, eyecare and overall shopping check out an awesome home-based business. If you are going to shop, shop smart.
This post is written by Judy Conway
on December 3, 2008
